The District Has Set Aside Money in NSLA for the Following

NSLA Description of Funds 2016-2017

The District has set aside money in NSLA for the following:

Homeless students "who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence" will be identified through the Home Status Survey. The district Homeless liaison, cafeteria director, school counselors, and school nurses will closely monitor the needs of students K-12. Through existing programs in addition to our School Wide-Title I program, homeless children will be provided instructional support in reading and math. Teachers will monitor their needs and support their academic growth by administering summative and formative/interim assessments throughout the year with remediation as needed. Pottsville's funds that are set aside for our homeless students are based upon identifying homeless students' needs, and then funded accordingly. Existing school programs; church and community support; and Title I welfare funds for materials and supplies are currently available. For neglected and homeless students not served by Title I, NLSA funds have been set aside to purchase materials & supplies.
Instructional Facilitator-In order to guide instruction and improve student achievement in math and literacy, an Instructional Facilitator, Melissa Cox, will collaborate with other highly qualified teachers, organize instructional materials, collect student data, and monitor individual student progress to improve student achievement.

Elementary:

To improve reading and math achievement, teachers will attend technology training to assist with learning new ways struggling students can use technology to target problems in verbal expressions, speech fluency, and math skills. Technology trainings and technology will be purchased as needed as well as the renewal of technology-based software, Education City and A-Z Learning, to support hands-on/real-world activities and student engagement strategies based upon trainings.
Purchase books to expand choices including content and practical texts. Tumbleweed/software for e-books and audiobooks.
Seven Highly Qualified and trained NSLA Paraprofessionals and a Reading Recovery Teacher will work under the supervision of or in coordination with a classroom teacher to provide supplemental reading and math instruction (funds are set aside for): Salaries and benefits, any insurance benefits and estimated raises in salary (if possible).
Student computers in the elementary classrooms will allow teachers the technology necessary to provide individualized instruction in reading, math, and writing. Chromebooks/Ipads will also be purchased to assist in auditory learning to enhance listening performance and to allow children to learn more efficiently.
In collaboration with classroom teachers, a K-3 Science Teacher, in a lab setting, will teach problem solving, data and measurement skills to all students through weekly scheduled hands-on science instruction.(fte. 1.0)
Purchase access fee needed to use the Raptor Technologies V-Soft Program that will provide automatic badging and tracking of volunteers and visitors in the school.
K-3 classroom teachers will complete ELLA/ ELF training at the Arch Ford Cooperative. Materials and Supplies will be purchased to implement training.
To improve achievement for grades 1 - 3 students, reading software aligned with Common Core Standards will be used/purchased for the computer lab/classrooms.
Instructional materials, supplies, and levelized books will be purchased in support of the K-3 bookroom and classrooms including practical and content texts.
Professional Development Training such as MATH COGNITIVE GUIDED INSTRUCTION and EXTENDED MATH- salary/benefits for teachers. Materials and supplies will also be purchased as needed.

Middle Grades:

Purchase new accelerated reader books, e-books, and audiobooks for the accelerated reader program. (Supplemental materials)
To improve student achievement, educational software such as Brainpop, Educational City and A to Z will be used for the computer lab/classroom. Teachers will use the computer lab and classroom to provide support activities to improve student achievement.
First and second year Literacy Lab participants will receive $600 to develop classroom libraries. Additional content area class books and workbooks will also be purchased for teachers to support literacy lab strategies and curriculum.
Use Follet Library/Destiny Asset Software and purchase Britannica on-line to drive students' critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills and information search skills.
Teachers will meet in grade levels and analyze the test analysis for areas of concern. Math and Literacy teachers, principal and intervention teachers will collaborate to determine necessary intervention to support the standards. Materials and supplies will be purchased to assist in classroom instruction and increase student performance.(formative/interim assessments)
Professional Development focused on student-centered technology use/teacher planning will be presented by the Instructional Technology Director and teachers from the Technology Academy. Laptops/Computers and Chromebooks and licenses will be purchased as replacements and/or incorporated in instruction for student support to boost their language acquisition with interactive activities. Technology will allow us to individualize instruction for each student and accelerate acquisition of the five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension through software and internet applications.
Individual student results from formative/interim assessments will be reviewed. Based on these results, the teacher will monitor and adjust future classroom instruction and provide intervention as needed. Materials and supplies will also be purchased to assist in increasing student performance.
Student computers in the Middle Grades classrooms will allow teachers the technology necessary to provide individualized instruction in reading, math, and writing. SmartBoards (2) and chromebooks will also be purchased to promote differentiated student instruction in the classroom.

Jr. High:

Content teachers will continue to participate as needed in Literacy Lab Professional Development or other trainings to learn ways to implement reading strategies including the following, but not limited to, phonemic awareness, comprehension, inference, vocabulary and fluency across the curriculum. During the school year, subs will be provided for teachers. Teachers will be paid their daily rate of pay for summer attendance, including meals/mileage/motels. Additional class sets of books will be purchased for those teachers already trained in the Literacy Model.
To improve reading comprehension, decoding skills, and fluency, electronic reading devices and audio books will be available to teachers for classroom use as well as student check out in the library. This will allow struggling readers access to grade level books. Books and/or e-books and audiovisual books will also be purchased to enhance student performance. The effectiveness of this program will be monitored through the increase of individual STAR reading scores as well as AR test results. A paraprofessional (fte .5) work under the direction of a highly qualified librarian to track student progress, assist in student book selection, and monitor library activities.
Two paraprofessionals will work under the supervision of a classroom teacher to provide supplemental instruction in math or literacy. (fte. 2) Materials and supplies will be purchased as needed.
Continue the READ 180 program to meet the needs of struggling readers whose reading achievement is below proficient level. The program directly addresses individual needs through differentiated instruction, adaptive and instructional software, high-interest literature, and direct instruction in reading, writing, and vocabulary. Materials, supplies, and license renewal will be provided.
The Parent Center will provide resources on relevant parenting topics such as: parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families while supporting parents in skills through literature and research in the center and library. The Parent Facilitator (certified teacher) will help organize meaningful training for staff and parents; promote and encourage a welcoming atmosphere to foster parental involvement; and undertake efforts to ensure parental participation is recognized as an asset to the school. A Volunteer Resource Book will be maintained and school staff will be encouraged to use it to match school needs with volunteer interests. Materials and supplies will be purchased to support different parent activities.

High School:

In order to improve instruction in all academic areas, content teachers will be given professional development opportunities for individual professional development, formative assessment analysis release time, curriculum development, vertical teaming, interventions (behavioral & academic), building level staff development, and ACSIP & data analysis activities. Teachers will be trained in research based strategies such as Literacy Lab, Next Step, Impacting Reading, Reading in Content Area Techniques, and open response scoring as well as other research based methods. Subs will be provided (purchased through SUBTEACH). Stipends (salaries/benefits given). Classroom libraries will be purchased so teachers may implement reading strategies in the classroom. Materials and supplies will be purchased to support instruction and to conduct training activities to improve student learning.
The READ 180 program will be used to meet the needs of struggling readers whose reading achievement is below proficient level. The program directly addresses individual needs through differentiated instruction, adaptive and instructional software, high-interest literature, and direct instruction in reading, writing, and vocabulary skills.
The librarian will purchase books/play-a-ways/e-books including e-books and audio books from Overdrive software to support AR. Students will select books of their choice. Selections will be made from both fiction and non-fiction titles.
To improve instruction and raise achievement, content teachers will be given PD opportunities. Subs will be provided (purchased through SUBTEACH) and teachers will be given release time throughout the academic year to evaluate formative/interim assessments and meet in vertical teams to discuss curriculum and instructional changes. Materials and supplies for math/literacy will also be purchased as needed.
Parents will gain an understanding of the importance of collaboration for the educational goals and initiatives by attending orientations, senior day activities, honor banquets, CAPs conferences, Pre-AP meetings, and Parent-Teacher conferences (min 2 a year) and Parental Involvement Meetings. Materials and supplies will be purchased for parent activities.